WHERE IT FITS

Last year KTM offered the 1290 for the more street-oriented side of the market and the 1190 as the dirtier version. Now both have been re-engineered to make a clearer
distinction between the two. The 1290 got a bunch of features KTM figured would appeal to that crowd. It features
key-less ignition, slip control and, of course, it still has 160
horsepower. The 1090, on the other hand, was downsized
and stripped. It lost displacement (2mm of bore and 6mm
of stroke), and it lost weight (it weighs 22 pounds less
than the 1190). Horsepower is now rated at 125 compared
to the 1190’s 150, but most of the difference is on top.

Low-end torque is said to be about the same. The new
bike has a more sophisticated rear-suspension system. It
always had a link-less design, but KTM engineers gave it a
dual-piston PDS shock this year.

Most of the electronic goodies that made the 1190 so
groundbreaking are back. The rider can alter the amount
of traction control, anti-lock braking and even horsepower through a menu-driven system. You can cook up your
own recipe with all those parameters, or you can just
switch to the presets offered—sport, rain and street. If you
want the full off-road settings, you have to plug in a $110
aftermarket dongle that allows you to turn off anti-lock
braking completely. The suspension is manual. If you want
to change settings, you have compression and rebound
clickers, plus spring preload in the rear, just as on any dirt
bike. The nice part is that the shock preload is adjusted
with a knob rather than a hammer and punch. This year
the spring rate in the WP Split fork is much stiffer than it
was.

The motor itself is KTM’s 75-degree V. It has a dual-plug ignition, a slipper clutch and a six-speed gearbox. It’s
housed in a trellis steel frame with a 6.1-gallon tank. The
weight loss this year came from several places, but part of
it is the loss of the center stand. It still has crash bars, and
the bike we tested had KTM’s PowerParts Adventure footpegs, which are more appropriate for off-road and sell for
$149. The real news is that the 1090 is priced much lower.
Last year the 1190 sold for $17,300; now the 1090 is
$14,699. That’s a clear indication that the $13,300 Honda
Africa Twin was a big influence on this bike.

BIG FELLA

There’s been an ongoing movement in this market to
make adventure bikes that do more than look the part. We
used to snicker at the idea of taking a 500-pound street
bike in the dirt. Now, it’s not only possible but it’s routine.
KTM has been a big part of that trend, pushing BMW,
Yamaha and now Honda to make legitimate off-road-ca-pable adventure bikes. The 1090 is the next step in that
evolution. It’s become plain that mega-level horsepower is
just as big a burden in the dirt as weight. With the reduction of both, the KTM is much easier to ride. When you
switch the bike into off-road mode, the output goes down
to 100 horsepower, anti-lock braking is eliminated for the
rear wheel (if the dongle is in place) and traction control
goes into a barely noticeable off-road setting. You can

The new KTM 1090 Adventure R is like
a KTM 1190 light; it has less power, less
weight and costs less.